Objective: The balloon angioplasty is a controversial procedure for the treatment of coarctation of the aorta (COA). This study determines the results of balloon angioplasty of native COA in infants.

Materials and Methods: Twenty-five subjects had undergone balloon angioplasty under drug-induced sedation using the retrograde technique through the femoral artery. In all the cases a Tyshak Mini balloon had been used. The patients had all been followed by thoracic echocardiography. Data were analyzed with SPSS 16.

Results: Twenty-five patients under 2 years of age with native COA, had undergone balloon angioplasty.The median age and weight of the subjects were 55 (12-700) days and 4860 ± 192 g respectively. Mean stenotic site diameter was 2.31± 0.58 mm before procedure and 5.41 ± 1.09 mm after procedure (P < 0.001). Mean pressure gradient before and after procedure was 34.48 ± 15.39 mm Hg and 5.84 ± 3.79 mm Hg respectively (P < 0.001). Early minor and major complications were seen at 16% and 24% of the cases respectively. The only short come complication was recurrent COA in 3 cases (12%). The final outcome of patients was recovery in 20 subjects (80%).

Conclusion: Based on the results of this study and reviewed studies, balloon angioplasty might be an alternative procedure in infants with native COA. However timely diagnosis and improvement in angioplasty techniques are necessary to improve the outcome.